


A Miraculous History

by Tsuki (Tsuki_Taiyo)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-09-07 04:12:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8782471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsuki_Taiyo/pseuds/Tsuki
Summary: When Tikki finds a cat demon in her master's temple, she doesn't know this will be the begin of a series of uncountable adventures. From now on the two of them are a team and assist humans in warding off evil, most times accompanied by their friends. All their adventures are collected in a thick, leather bound book, written in a language unknown to mankind. Until now...





	1. There's a demon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a young Tikki finds a thief in her master's temple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this is somewhat a mixture of my idea how the kwamis were bound to their miraculous as well as adventures of former miraculous wielders. Since kwami can be translated to quantic kamis, the story begins in Japan, since deities are here called kamis. As a result, there might be names you don't know, which is why I'll put "some" explanations at the end of the chapter.

I held my breath as long as he was close enough to my hiding place to hear my breathing. _It would be a miracle should it oversee my brilliant red hair_ , I thought. _Or the glittering of the crown holding up most of my curls… Why do you always have to wear it openly, Tikki?_

An intruder had let himself into the temple of my Lord Kangiten and his lovely wife, gods of bliss. By pure luck our paths had crossed and I had followed the creature to the private chambers of my master. I knew the god of bliss to be absent due to a human settlement, which had called for his help, while his wife spent some time with her sister. That left me as the one in charge as the strongest and oldest novice of my master. _What is this thing anyway? Its fur looks a lot like that of an Iriomote cat, all brown and gray with spots and stripes… But no Iriomote would be dumb enough to sneak into the temple of a god. Animals are smart that way._

While I still pondered what I was facing, the creature had slithered up to the treasure box of my Lord and Lady. Without hesitating I slipped in, very aware of the twitching cat ears poking out of a mass of blackish hair. Fortunately the carpet muted my steps as I slit into a shadow between a cupboard and the doorway I came through. _I wonder how long until this thing is noticed… It appears to have some kind of human form, despite claws and tail and ears. Must be a powerful Shikigami then, maybe a god of calamity envious of my Lord’s respect with the humans? But why would they bother with treasures rather than let’s say attack his wife or me while we are seemingly unprotected?_

The latch snapped open with an audible click. The cat ears swirled around swiftly, making sure nobody approached to check on the sound, as nimble claws pried the box open. I took this as my cue to interfere with his plans. “And what exactly do you believe you’re doing there?”, I demanded to know. The creature whirled around just as I stepped forth from the shadows, my red kimono catching the light with each step. My small frame was wrapped in layers of silk with a glittering tiara adorning my red hair, pulled up into a traditional bun with two stands framing my pale face. It was a male figure I now ultimately knew. His green eyes –

My eyes widened in shock: “Akuma” The creature’s lips curled into a cruel smile, showing off his fangs. _No, no, no, no! Normal Iriomote cats have amber eyes, not green eyes. This is a demon!_

“To be honest, I don’t care, how you call me, dear.”, he purred. “You won’t live to tell the tale.” Taking one step toward me, he paused since I didn’t turn to flee or made any other movement. _I need to make this as quickly as possible. Neither of my masters will be pleased to find out there is a wild demon in their private rooms. But I cannot kill him without direct provocation… Think Tikki!_

“Do you know, where you are? This is the temple of Lord Kangiten, god of bliss and protector against evil and demons. So excuse me, if I don’t tremble in fear, akuma.”, I replied easily. “Oh and by the way, I am not only a novice to the god of bliss, I am daughter of the god of creation himself.”

“Lady Luck must hate me”, the cat demon muttered, rubbing at his temples. “Lady Luck is a cruel woman. She tends to loose interest in her suspects rather quickly, wouldn’t you agree?”, I stepped further into the light. Instinctively the demon’s eyes roamed around to find the next possible exit. “I don’t quite see, why she would take an interest in you in the first place.”, I added with a dramatic sigh. “Her ways have always been hard to find.” An angry growl reverberated from the walls around us. Merely a way to try and make me fear him, although had the akuma wanted to attack me, he would have already done so. “The other gods always tell her to not take to a subject for too long or see it through until the end, but she is simply such a fleeting person. Never staying in one place. None of them can bind her.”, I went on as if nothing happened. His ears flattened further against his skull as another growl penetrated the air. “She also tends to act on whims, you know? She is unreliable like that.”

“Now, now”, a female voice spoke up. “If only my dear sister could hear you speak of her in that tone.” From a newly formed corridor strode my Lady, her white elephant head held high. “I apologize for being disrespectful, it was not my intention.”, I bowed before my Lady. “However we have a visitor.” My Lady merely raised a fine brow at the crouched form of the cat demon. His eyes narrowed in distrust, merely two green slits in his dark face, before a shiver went down his spine and his features turned more humanoid. “What did you do?”, he demanded from my Lady. “Why am I looking like this!”

“I pulled the side forth that is more like the humans. It is the side I prefer.”, she shook her head and it turned to that of a woman with blinding white hair framing her youthful face with dark brown eyes. “Now, dear, why don’t you tell me your name?” The demon threw his head back in laughter, showing off sharp canines his human appearance couldn’t hide. Instinctively I pulled my powers closer to me in case the demon chose to attack. But he only cackled at my Lady. “That was a good one!”, he barked between laughter. “Names hold power, why should I give it to you?” To my utter surprise my Lady gave a tight smile in response: “It was worth a try, was it not. Now then, but we need to call you by some name.”

“Why would you?”, the demon tilted his head, ears flopping curiously. _Why do I feel the sudden urge to touch them? Well, they are quite cute… No! Tikki, you need to concentrate!_

“We need your name because there is no way you’ll leave this temple without being put into the service of one of the gods. Or would you prefer, I allow her”, she pointed at me, “to kill you?” A ko-naginata found its way into my right hand while my left was filled with a metal tessen, a war fan embroidered with shuriken. I stood straight, fanning myself lazily with the tessen just to keep the appearance of a nonchalant fighter, albeit being slightly inexperienced in fighting against demons of his size. “That little girl will not be able to overpower me.”, he declared with an arrogant smirk. _Let’s see about that._ , I lightly narrowed my brows. _Prejudices against women are deadly when living with the gods._

I flicked my fan a bit more violently in his direction, causing one of the throwing stars to loosen up and fly at the cat demon. He ducked his head to avoid being hit by the flying object, to then glared at me. “I believe Lord Fudo Myoo mentioned something about one of his novices dying during the morning practice. Again.”, I mentioned without taking my eyes off the cat. “The fierce and wrathful King of Wisdom? Hell no!”, the demon growled. “Nice idea”, my smile returned. “Lady Izanami always has a place for lost causes.” A snarl and crouch into a fighting stance was my answer. _I don’t mean to be cruel, but this demon tried to steal from my master, laughed about my Lady and personally insulted me. No need to grudge, right?_

“Calm down Tia”, my Lady’s voice cut through the air. “And you demon stand down or I’ll have to call my husband upon you.” With another growl the demon forced his stance to relax while I resumed my innocent fanning. “Li Shou, the cat goddess, should have time to take care of yet another kitten.”, my Lady announced. “Would you be okay with us calling you Akuma, since you didn’t provide us with another name?” The demon shrugged carelessly: “Whatever suits you best Lady.”

“Well then, I’ll inform Lady Li Shou of your arrival. Tia”, her sharp eyes turned on me, “Akuma will be part of your cadre. See to it, that he adjusts.” My weapons evaporated into thin air when I bowed to my Lady as she disappeared through the same corridor she had arrived through. “Now then, Akuma”, I tasted the name on my lips. “Follow me and no more touching of godly objects. Is that understood?” He flashed me a smile full of sharp teeth: “Of course not darling. How would I come to touch anything belonging to your mistress and master?” My eyes narrowed at him and my favourite tessen found its way back into my hand. _He doesn’t have my true name to work wicked magic over me, but neither have I his to control him. I need to keep him at bay until my friends are there to help me contain him. Oh I can already hear Trixx bugging me about it…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kangiten - God of Bliss, Joy and Pleasure. He originally comes from India, but is also worshipped in Japan, especially by couples hoping for children.He is depicted either as a single elephant-headed humanoid being or as an embracing couple of elephant-headed humans (thus the worshipping as a deity of pleasure and my interpretation of him as husband and wife).
> 
> Shikigami - are a small spirits, which can be conjured. Their power is bound to their master, although they can develop their own free will over time, at first they follow the given orders like puppets.
> 
> Akuma - literally means demon, which is the context it is used in here. Not as in the evilised victims of Hawk Moth.
> 
> Naginata - is a traditional Japanese weapon.It is formed like a pole with a curved longer blade at the end of it. The prefix ko- indicates the version used by female warriors. It is smaller to compensate the lesser height and upper-body strength of women.
> 
> Tessen - is a war fan.
> 
> Shuriken - can be translated as throwing stars. This weapon can be used either for throwing or sometimes stabbing an slashing. They are mainly supplementary weapons and can take on many different shapes.
> 
> Fudo Myoo - one of the Wisdom Kings. His other names suggest him to be wrathful and violent, similar to a god of war. He is often depicted as angry faced and fanged, with a sword in his hand that may or may not be enflamed.
> 
> Izanami - goddess of Creation and Death. She is wife of Izanagi and with him created the world. She "died", which resulted in her living in the underworld. Izanagi wanted to take her back, however he broke his promise and turned around to look at her on their way back. Frightened by her appearance, he flees and seals the underworld off (while Izanami hunts him for breaking his promise), thus creating the separation of the living world and that of the dead.
> 
> Li Shou - is a cat goddess. The gods assigned her to watch over the world, but falling cherry blossoms or patches of sunlight distracted her. So the gods decide to give this assignment to the humans, while Li Shou henceforth watches over the circle of day and night, with her eyes lightening up the sky.


	2. Partners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tikki and Akumal team up for the first time - and are quite successful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we have another chapter for the Miraculous History... As before, I'll explain foreign terms at the end of the chapter, just in case you want to look it up.  
> Just a quick note on the change in names. Tikki (Tia) and Plagg (Akuma) do not use their given names due to the fact, that they don't trust each other. In some cultures it is believed, that the name holds power over its person, enabling others, should the name be known, to bewitch them. To avoid this Plagg and Tikki and the other future kwamis will not use their original names in the beginning.  
> Have fun!

The demon and I exited the temple and went straight towards the aisle of the always-blossoming cherry trees. “Where are you taking me?”, the cat demon asked after we walked a good patch of the way in silence. “Where do you think I am taking you?”, I asked back. “And here I thought the confused looks and blank stare would have answered that already…” A light giggle escaped me, as I kept walking towards our destination. “I am taking you to Lady Li Shou’s temple, since I doubt you know your way around here.”, I caught his green-eyed stare, “Or are you not telling me something?” A sly grin stretched his lips, but he said nothing. _Akuma can’t have scouted the entire grounds before choosing to climb into my master’s temple and attempt to steal. There are other ways and more valuable artefacts hidden among the other shrines… Wait… How did he get in here anyway?_

We walked the rest of the way towards an especially large cherry tree in silence. Beneath the tree a black and white cat lay curled up and purring lightly. Akuma eyed her critically, before shooting me a look that clearly said: _Are you serious? A cat?_

I chose to not respond to that, instead bowing to the seemingly sleeping cat. “Lady Li Shou”, I breathed. With a sound somewhere between a meow and a purr, golden eyes slowly opened. “Ah, finally, you’ve arrived.”, the cat goddess purred. “Took you long enough.”

“You are a goddess? You are a cat.”, Akuma blurted. Not even my glare could shut him up. Fortunately Lady Li Shou only laughed at his comment, shifting her pose, so she was sitting on her hind legs. “My dear, I am not only a cat. I was assigned to watch over the world. However neither my children nor me were very concentrated or suited for the task, so we gave it to the humans, who have done quite well until now, I think. Ever since then we have taken it upon ourselves to watch over the passing of day and night on earth. The Lady told me you, demon, want to be my novice?”

“Want is very dependant on its definition.”

“Ah, I see…” A light chuckle shook the cat. “Why do you want to keep me anyway?”, the cat demon grumbled. “You attempted to steal from a god, that has to be punished. Either by your death or by pulling you into our ranks and making you work. Your choice.” Akuma’s ears flattened to his skull, a low growl rumbling in his chest. Li Shou grinned: “Well then. You’re on board I guess. I love struggling kitten.” And just like that, within the blink of an eye the cat goddess transformed into a much larger version of herself. Akuma jumped back a few paces, half-transforming into his feline version. _Please stay calm, please stay calm, please stay calm._ , I chanted in my head. _Don’t attack a goddess that would be a bad idea. Stay exactly where you are and compose yourself._

“Don’t fret kitten. What is your name?”

“They call me Akuma.”

Li Shou grinned, showing off her sharp teeth: “I didn’t ask what they call you. I asked for your name.” Akuma bared his own fangs defiantly. “He has just arrived from his home realm. He isn’t yet accustomed to our customs.”, I dared to say. However my interruption went seemingly unnoticed, the goddess and demon staring at each other in fighting stances. _If they choose to attack now, I’ll be unable to get between them. Who wants to get between two fighting cats, even more so since one of them is a goddess?_

Fortunately it never came to a fight. A strange sense of understanding passed between them and then Akuma’s green eyes were speckled with gold, making them even more radiant. “Welcome to the club, kitten.”, Li Shou purred, “Now go make momma proud.”, her golden eyes strayed to me, “Tia, make sure, my kitten returns safely from your job.” We blinked at the goddess in confusion, before my ears tingled with the human prayer, vibrating with fear, reached my senses: _Kami-sama please protect our village bring us luck. We are being attacked, nothing can help us, please, gentle, righteous Kami-sama, assist us in these dark times._ Akuma shuddered, having never felt this before. “What was that?”, he asked. “Humans are bidding for help. If they need assistance or guidance from the gods they tend to call our names, which we hear quite clearly. Seemingly this task requires the both of us, if you could hear it too.” _Although I wish you hadn’t heard it. There never comes anything good from a demon helping humans. I wish it were just me, I know how to handle these things… But oh well, there is a first time for everything, right?_ , I added in my mind. “We need to go to earth and help them.”

“Why should I care for scared humans?”

“Humans give us cats a place to curl up in, feed us and are our descendants in protecting the earth. Gods are their protectors so they can protect what we created. We feed off their energy.”, Li Shou’s eyes gleamed. “So if you want to survive as my kitten, then shut your whiskers and help Tia complete her mission. It is your first act as one of mine.” 

* * *

 

The reason why the humans had called for the gods became obvious once Akuma and I landed in the human gathering. A giant boar was rampaging through the huts, tearing apart everything in its way. “When did you change?”, Akuma stared at the armour I now wore, having materialised it without actively thinking about it. “Daughter of Creation”, I shrugged. “Runs in the family to create things I guess?” The demon grinned insanely, before shifting his attention away from my red leather armour towards the humans running around trying to escape the rouge animal. “They remind me of chicken when a fox is near.”, his green eyes gleamed hungrily. “We are here to help them, not eat them”, I told him sternly. “Try to keep that in mind.”

“Whatever you say, darling.”

Human cries reached my ears. _I have to concentrate on the task at hand. There is no time to dwell on whether or not I can trust him. My father created these souls to life; Izanami is trying to wipe them off the face of earth. I have to stop this useless bloodshed!_

With new determination I started towards the attacking beast, feeling my armour move with every step I took. A ko-naginata and tessen with shuriken materialised in my hands. “Let’s do it”, I told myself. The humans finally noticed my presence as the heightened calls indicated. They changed direction towards me, flailing their arms around to point at things around them. _Oh dear. It would be so much easier, if they stopped screaming at me… At least then I could concentrate on something._

“Kami-sama!”, one man cried. “Please bind him!” I gave him a gentle smile, since my appearance alone was frightening enough. With a twirl of my wrist, the ko-naginata pointed downwards, but ready to cut through flesh and bone anytime. “Stand back. My partner and I will take care of it.”, I told them. “Partner?”, some humans mumbled and looked around in confusion. _Don’t tell me he disappeared please don’t tell me Akuma disappeared._

A loud roar was my answer to that fear. The humans shied away from the sounds, trying to hide behind me. It didn’t work that well considering I was not exactly the tallest person around. My eyes scanned the area and landed on the feline form of my new partner. He wore his fur, eyes gleaming green and golden in the light, as his claws cut through the air in front of him, only inches from the boar’s hide, front legs already showing shallow cuts. “Akuma, what are you doing?”, I narrowed my eyes. The demon jumped in front of the boar. A squeak and the animal turned on its heel, effectively destroying another hut on the way. With a start, I ran towards the fight. “Lead it away from the huts!”, I called out. Akuma gave an answering growl. The closer I came the more details I noticed. The boar was indeed a giant, its tusks stuck out from its fleshy lower lip as long as my forearm. Tiny bead-like eyes shone with a mixture of madness, panic and malice – and they focused on me…

“Tia!”, Akuma roared, his eyes slightly widening. I however stayed perfectly calm, allowing the boar to close in on me, lifting the ko-naginata. My steps quickened, preparing to catapult myself over the back of the beast. The boar roared in victory, leaping at the same moment I pushed myself off the ground. The naginata ripped his neck and part of his back open. My weapon fell from my hands as the beast slammed right into me, blood splashing onto my face. The air was knocked from my lungs, as we tumbled over each other, the animal pressing me into the ground with its weight and sharp hooves digging into my shoulder through the armour. _Oh dear, this is getting way too close. I don’t particularly like the smell of its breath…_

The tessen felt heavy in my hands, which wasn’t all that surprising considering there was a grown boar stood on top of me. Still I was able to free one of the shuriken. The boar turned its head after having recovered its bearings, staring down at me with dropping tusks. I forced myself to breathe despite the weight pressing down on my chest, racked my brain to formulate a plan along with a half sketched backup plan.

Suddenly a black shadow fell over us and the weight was lifted off my chest. Akuma, back in his humanoid form, threw the animal a few paces away before pulling me up to my feet. “What was that? Wanted to get some new jewellery or something?”, he asked, one of his cat ears flopping down. “I had a plan. I didn’t need your help”, I snapped, feeling a sudden anger eat away at me. _Who does this demon think he is? He ruined my chance at killing the beast cleanly. I could have saved myself. I am no damsel in distress! Why does this insufferable, little, dumb –_

The train of thoughts stopped abruptly. My head shot around to stare at the boar, which was seemingly sneering at us. No, not seemingly. Sharp teeth flashed as the thing grinned broader. That was when I felt a looming presence in my back. “Don’t listen to the things it whispers into your head, Akuma.”, I whispered. “This is no ordinary animal, this is a demon.”

“Do not give me this all mighty crap. I know how you gods always think you are so high and mighty, but just now you owe your life to me!”, he growled at me. “And don’t you dare tell me what to do.” _Oh no, the demon has him in its claws already. Akuma is ensnared, what do I do?_

Akuma made the choice for me by lunging at me and transforming into a giant cat in midair. And by giant I mean he reached at least a hand above my hip when standing on all fours. Right now he was lunging at me with all fours outstretched... “Akuma, no!”, I screamed in horror. If he chose to fight me now, I had to kill him to eliminate any danger, before taking on the wild demon. _I have one last option… It is dangerous, but-_

My body tensed, as I ducked away under the fast approaching claws. With a frustrated growl Akuma spun around his green-golden eyes gleaming dangerously. “In the name of creation”, I began to invoke. “In the name of the eternal Lord of the Heavens, I, his daughter Tikki, cleanse thee. Shall thy foul acts be given mercy to, thou unfortunate soul.” With my closed tessen I painted a tilted Z into the air, blowing against the glowing sign so it covered Akuma. His eyes suddenly cleared, anger exchanged for confusion. “How did I get here?”, he wondered. “That is no normal boar”, I pointed my fan at the now less grinning creature. “This is a demon.”

“And it would have been so much easier, had you just killed each other.”, said demon mentioned. _I am glad my incantation is inaudible to everyone except the one it is used on and even he will not remember my name once he is freed. Otherwise this could really go wrong._ I felt my body ache with the power I had to use for the incantation. _Or, more wrong than it already has._

Akuma bared his teeth at the boar demon, a low growl rumbling in his chest. He resumed his animalistic form once more, pacing like a caged animal. “I hate to be manipulated.”, Akuma snarled, his ears pressed to his skull. “Then why don’t we show him?”, I asked, as another ko-naginata found its way into my hand and the tessen was replaced with a shining katana. We had both fallen into the deathly calm of predators ready for the kill. “Come here, kitty.” The large cat strolled over, curling its tail around my waist, his body protecting my back. Calmly we observed our opponent and for the first time since I had flung myself into the battle I noticed how oddly quiet it had become. The humans probably fled the sidelines to watch from a safe distance what happened in their village.

“Never thought I’d say that, but what’s the plan darling?”, Akuma wanted to know. I took a deep breath, the back of my hand brushing against the fur on his hide. “Do you trust me?”

“No”

“Good. Then this might work out after all.”, my eyes traced every inch of the boar, from the sharp tusks to the bloody back and front legs, away to the strong hind legs. “Move with the flow. Nothing else matters. Got it?” Akuma nodded once. Without warning I darted away from him, attacking the right side. Not even a full heartbeat later Akuma shot to the opposite side. The boar didn’t react fast enough. A painful scream ripped from its mouth as claws and blades hit true, somehow Akuma and I functioned without words, as we sprinted away from the demon again. “Look at this”, Akuma grinned at me – and grinning giant cats look really scary. “How about we finish it quickly and then go back? I could use some good food to be honest.”

“Can’t argue with that. The faster I get away from you the better.” He laughed at my obvious lie. “It would be a cat-astrophe if you were stuck with me any longer, huh?”, my partner chuckled at his own pun. No words were exchanged as we fell into our deadly rhythm once more. Somehow we knew where the other would strike next, so we distracted the boar depending on who was attacking at the moment. It was one single dance of blades and claws and it was perfectly choreographed until Akuma pulled a trick from his sleeve I had never seen before. As the boar desperately tried to attack either of us, it didn’t matter anymore whom of us since we pierced its eyes so the demon was completely blind, Akuma’s eyes suddenly glowed a fluorescent green. Not only his eyes, but his claws seemed to catch green fire as well. Without missing a beat he pressed his claws against the demon’s body. One final yowl and the boar demon was no more. There were only us in the middle of a destroyed human settlement.

“What was that?”, I asked him dumbfounded. Akuma looked down at his claws: “I am not quite sure, but I think this is the ability someone mentioned my father to have had.”

“What do you call it?”

“I don’t know…”

_Okay, at the moment he does not know, so let’s concentrate on the pressing issues at hand. I’ll just rebuilt the huts and then ask Lady Li Shou about it. Maybe she has an idea as to what it could be._

Twirling around myself, I let my abilities of creation repair the huts the fight destroyed. “Wow”, Akuma mumbled, looking around. I smiled tiredly: “Thank you. Only side effect is it makes me always so tired.” _Why are you telling him that? You don’t even trust him completely!_ , I screamed at myself in my head. _He just fought with me against a demon. Akuma deserves a chance no matter what he did in the past. Our fighting style was so in sync as well, this never happened before with any other partner._ , another part of me replied. “You shouldn’t’ tell a demon that.”, I heard the smirk in his voice. “We don’t trust each other, remember?” My sole response was a quiet moan. _Somehow I feel, like I could trust him. Given some time. We worked perfectly during the fight. I have never ever experienced anything like it before…_

With another groan my knees gave out from under me and I tumbled to the ground, my weapons disappearing altogether. “Everything is going to be fine.”, I mumbled. Akuma chuckled darkly: “How do you know, darling? You are at the mercy of a demon, ne?”

“Just get me home.”, my growl sounded more like a whine, even to my ears. Strong arms lifted me off the ground. “Huh, and this is supposed to be a daughter of Creation? Oh dear, you are pathetic.” I found myself unable to answer his insult properly, clawing at the darkness trying to draw me under, trying to stay conscious. “Well, then let’s get you back to the likes of you, darling.”, Akuma said calmly, starting to walk with me held against his chest. Although I wanted to force myself to stay awake the whole trip long to make sure he didn’t kidnap me, I fell asleep about half way home with his steady heart beat as my lullaby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akuma - literally means demon, which is the context it is used in here. Not as in the evilised victims of Hawk Moth.
> 
> Li Shou - is a cat goddess. The gods assigned her to watch over the world, but falling cherry blossoms or patches of sunlight distracted her. So the gods decide to give this assignment to the humans, while Li Shou henceforth watches over the circle of day and night, with her eyes lightening up the sky.
> 
> Izanami - goddess of Creation and Death. She is wife of Izanagi and with him created the world. She "died", which resulted in her living in the underworld. Izanagi wanted to take her back, however he broke his promise and turned around to look at her on their way back. Frightened by her appearance, he flees and seals the underworld off (while Izanami hunts him for breaking his promise), thus creating the separation of the living world and that of the dead.
> 
> Kami-sama - kami are the Japanese deities, while -sama is an honorific for people in high ranks and positions or gods. I chose not to use these kind of honorifics for the gods talking among themselves, because I figured they might not communicate in a "human" language, thus these honorifics are unnecessary.
> 
> Naginata - is a traditional Japanese weapon.It is formed like a pole with a curved longer blade at the end of it. The prefix ko- indicates the version used by female warriors. It is smaller to compensate the lesser height and upper-body strength of women.
> 
> Tessen - is a war fan.


	3. A Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Plagg is misused as a pillow and Tikki explodes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we have another chapter of our Miraculous History. Originally I would have liked to upload it on around saturday-ish, but that obviously didn't work out… Anyway, have fun with this newest chapter and, as always, any explanations you might need are at the end of the chapter.

Slowly I became aware of my surroundings again. There was a low buzzing murmur of voices in the background. My body felt heavy, as if I had slept for far too long.

“ _Tikki”,_ a voice whispered in my head. “ _Wake up, it is time._ ”

Carefully I opened my eyes, thankful for the dim lighting in the room I now recognised as my own. My first look brought my eyes upon my master standing behind his wife, who sat on the edge of my futon. Both shone with calm happiness. “Welcome back”, my Lady gave me a gently smile. “How long have I been asleep?”, I wanted to know. The couple exchanged a long glance that spoke volumes, before quietly excusing themselves. _Okay, so at least more than a few hours._ , I thought. That had happened before. My powers of creation took their toll on me every time I used them. So it was no surprise that keeping my weapons and armour intact, despite attacks of the enemy, then concentrating a part of my powers on Akuma to keep the demon at bay, as well as repairing all these huts in the human gathering had downed my strength. _Speaking of the demon_ , I thought _, were is Akuma right now?_

One turn of my head revealed the rest of the room to me. The constant murmur came from the assembled Seven Gods of Luck, all of which were in a discussion about something that serious, they did not notice I was awake. To see all of them assembled were a rare sight, let alone in an obviously longer discussion. A glimpse of fur caught my attention, bringing my slightly swimming senses back into focus on what I had originally been looking for. _Wow, I must have slept longer than I thought and maybe longer still…_

I turned my head to the left even more, where I thought I had caught a glance of my new feline companion. However what I now saw left me breathless. Near my bed rested Lady Li Shou. The cat goddess sat calmly on her hind legs, observing the Seven Gods of Luck with attentive golden eyes. Her feline form, even seated, was still one head taller than the black-furred male sitting next to her. His eyes, in contrary to his mistress, his golden-green were focused on me. _As if he’s guarding my weaker side. Like my partner would, had I one. Wait_ , I blinked. _Those green-golden eyes…_

“Akuma?”, I whispered. The former cat demon now focused completely on me, eyes twinkling in hidden mischief. _I knew Lady Li Shou affects her novices, but I never heard of someone being changed this quickly…_

“How long was I asleep?”, I asked him. After one quick glance at Li Shou, Akuma strolled over, resting his chin on my futon. “For about two and a half weeks”, he told me. “That must’ve been some purretty strong swoosh you used to rebuilt the village, huh, darling?”

“That was no ‘swoosh’. That were my powers of creation.”, I retorted. “Now tell me how you got your fur changed to black when it was brown before.” Tentatively I reached out to touch his fur, tempted by the soft look. To my own surprise Akuma leaned his head forward, allowing me to pet him. “There’s nothing much to tell at all, darling. Lady Li Shou took me in her capable paws and told me some lessons – sometimes with the claws.”

“You do realise that rhymes?”

“Why do you think, I added that part, hn?”, Akuma grinned. “Anyway, they told me to be your partner, since something, I don’t know, they said something about matching and opposites, but I don’t feel very attracted to you. Do you?” For a second I didn’t know what to say. The cat demon had just revealed, that the gods believed us to be one pair of a whole. They would match us as fighting partners – maybe even more! _Oh gods! I can’t believe my luck… And here I thought being the novice of Bliss and daughter of Creation would bring me good luck. Oh well, let’s work with it. There is nothing else I can do at the moment. Everything will work out fine I just need to believe in it._

“Darling”, Akuma gave me a teasing smile. “Don’t tell me you fell for an alley cat like ol’ moi. Because I am pretty sure I won’t catch you.” I gave him a flat stare: “I think you noticed by now, that I can catch myself just fine.” The black cat snorted. “Umhm. Like when I had to lift the boar off you? Or when you collapsed because you sparkly magic ate away at you? Remind me, who again helped you out?” With a light huff I narrowed my eyes at him. “As I told you before: I had a plan to get the boar off me. Hadn’t you interfered with that I wouldn’t have had needed to overuse my powers, its not magic, those are natural, and then I wouldn’t have slept for so long and would have been able to get home safely before sleeping. So to sum it all up for you, demon, I wouldn’t have needed your help at all. I did just fine before you came along.” With a low growl, Akuma moved closer to me, eyes gleaming dangerously: “Of course you didn’t need my help, darling. I just happened to be in hearing distance. And at the moment I hear a lot of ‘if’ in your sentences.”, he grinned broadly. “Not the best way to seem credible, ne?”

“I wish I had killed you the second I found you sneaking around in my master’s temple.”, I wrinkled my nose. “And I would have wished to keep my natural colouring and not be changed by training my abilities of destruction.”, Akuma kept a completely straight face. “We don’t always get what we want, darling.” _His fur changed because he trained his abilities? What would have happened had he trained powers of creation instead?_ , I sat up in bed. _Now I feel a little bad for simply assuming it was what he wanted to happen… Well, Akuma didn’t want to be with the gods to begin with. I guess, I always thought it might change despite everything._

“Black stands for stability right?”, my blue eyes travelled to his golden-green ones. “If we are indeed two sides of one coin you are the one I can always rely on. You will be my constant stability in an ever-changing world. I can offer good luck and prosperity and companionship in turn.” Akuma looked at me with an unreadable expression for a second. However before either of us could say another word, the gods chose to interfere. “Tia, I see you are awake.”, a voice said. “Good. I hope you rested well.” Reluctantly I looked away from my feline companion, to face the Seven Gods of Luck. “Yes, Lord Bishamon, thank you for your concern, but I am fine now.”

“You know that as the head of the cadre you are supposed to look after yourself extraordinarily well, Tia.”, another god added. I bowed my head to them in response and as an act of respect. “Lord Fukurokuju, it is an honour to meet you again. Yes, I am aware of the heightened expectations towards my person. I will keep myself in best health.” The Seven Gods of Luck shared quick glances with one another. _There’s something coming. I can feel it in the air and I am not yet sure, if I’ll like it or not…_

“Did you notice the ability of our newest member?”, Lady Benzaiten spoke up, her Geisha make-up not able to hide the slight blush dusting her cheeks from the prospect of having found a new talent. After a short look around the other gods, Lord Kangiten and his wife as well as Lady Li Shou were calmly observing our conversation with the Seven Gods of Luck, I turned my attention back to Lady Benzaiten. I nodded slowly: “I am aware of his talent for … destruction?” Akuma winched slightly, which almost made me revoke my assumption. Almost. Lady Benzaiten’s lips twitched into the eager grin of a child getting a long anticipated present. “Exactly”, she clapped her hands. “These powers are very rare! I still can’t quite believe, that I finally found someone to have both destruction and an ounce of creation in their veins.”, by now she was practically jumping up and down, “As much as I love your way of creation with a hint of destruction, his talents are so fascinating.”

The other six gods looked at her with veiled displeasure. Apparently they hadn’t wanted to reveal this to us after all. _Well, so much for being cryptically. Thanks to her love for rare talents. At least we now know where we stand in this._

“Tia, you will understand, that naturally he will be added to your cadre.”, a wise, older looking man spoke up, straightening the scholar’s cap atop his head. “I thought he was already assigned to be in the cadre, Lord Juroujin?”, I couldn’t help but wonder out loud. The god nodded at me: “Yes he was, as part of the members under your protection. Now we want you to take him as your second in command. He will be your partner in combat.” Akuma’s eyes shot wide in surprise, a small noise escaping his throat. In an instant Lady Benzaiten was at his side, cradling his head in her hands. “I know dear, it must be very frightening to not only be gifted with such a powerful gift but now be put in a position as high as this at your first day here.”, she frantically stroked his head. “However I would have never agreed to this, were I in some way unsure of your capability to be able to live up to the role to your fullest. Dear, please don’t give up. We’re all here to help you.”

“My Lords, my Lady, if you don’t mind”, Lord Kangiten spoke up from the background. “I think Tia needs some more rest. You can discuss the details with her later on. For now she should rest again and regain the rest of her strength.” The Seven Gods of Luck looked me over and I instinctively made myself look smaller and more fragile than I was. _I am only a novice, I cannot argue with them. Besides, I really feel a little tired after all these revelations._

The seven gods around me nodded their head in agreement, drawing back out of the room without another word. Only as the door slid shut behind them did I breath again. My Lady hurried to the right side of my futon. “Are you alright? You look a little pale.”

“Just tired”, I murmured, suddenly unable to hold my eyes open one second longer. “Let her rest my dear.”, Lord Kangiten spoke up. “Come, we will see what the other novices are doing. Hopefully they used their time for training, because I feel like spontaneously testing their fighting abilities right now.”

“Don’t be too harsh on them. You know they all care for their sister deeply. So even if they didn’t train…” The rest of my Lady’s answer was swallowed by another door sliding shut. “We should get going as well, Akuma”, Li Shou said calmly. “Come, let her rest in peace.” _She’s going to take him with her… Akuma is my partner now. We need to learn to trust each other in life and death. There is no room for mistrust in battle._

“C-Can he stay?”, I asked softly. “What?”, I heard the surprise clearly in the cat goddesses’ voice. “You want him to stay by your side? Just like that?” It cost much energy to open my eyes, but when I did I was faced with two very shocked looking giant cats. A small smile tilted my lips upward: “He is my partner now. I should trust him.” Li Shou eyed me curiously, analysing every inch of my expression, before allowing her muscles to relax somewhat. “You are a strange novice, Tia. No one would ever accept a former demon as their partner just like that, even more so when weakened like you are now.”

“Psst, maybe he didn’t hear that”, I stage-whispered. Li Shou snorted shortly, shooting the still staring former cat demon a glance. “You can call yourself lucky, kitten, to have been chosen to be this warrior’s partner. Other novices would have outright rejected you.”, her golden eyes wandered back to me. “Very well, I allow him to stay here for now. Have a good rest.” I didn’t know what else to say, so I just smiled at her.

And then it was just Akuma and I.

“She is right, you know”, he said after a moment’s silence. “Why did you accept me?” I raised a brow at him: “Why not? We fought exceptionally good together, you know.” His ears twitched as he heard my mocking imitation of him. _You didn’t assume I would go all soft on you just because we are partners? Far from it to be exact. I don’t plan on seeming weak in front of you, thank you very much._

With a tiny snort Akuma sat back, away from the futon. “You don’t seem tired anymore”, he noted. “Don’t let appearances fool you, demon. That’s one important point around the gods: Things are not what they appear.”, I grinned at him. “But in this case you are – or, were – right. I am tired. Would you mind keeping me company while I sleep for a bit?” The black cat showed me his fangs in a wicked smile. “Are you sure you want to risk it? After all I am a demon to the core. A demon with the newfound ability of destruction.” My yawn interrupted him. “If you think to bore me to sleep go on. Your tirade about how bad you are is getting quite old, don’t you think?”, I yawned again. “Now come up here, curl up and be quiet. Some people want to sleep.”

“What, if some people don’t want to obey you?”

“Then some people are going to stay on the ground for the rest of the day.”

Akuma gave a small grunt, but I ignored him, choosing to close my eyes and wait. After some moments the demon huffed in annoyance and I tried to hide my small smile of triumph. “I knew it was very uncomfortable waiting on the floor.”, I mumbled. A light shift was the only indication that Akuma had slid onto my futon, before his soft fur brushed against my arm. “Oh hush. You are sleeping.”, he retorted. “You never noticed me slipping onto your futon.” 

* * *

 

Probably a few hours later I awoke once more, feeling more refreshed than before and ready to face whatever the gods chose to throw at me. _What has woken me?_ , I wondered sleepily. _Something woke me up, I am sure of it, but what?_

With a content sigh I nuzzled deeper into my pillow. My moving pillow. Wait. Moving? There were a lot of moving things I knew of, some wardrobes trotted after their master’s like an obedient dog, but moving pillows? That was a new one. Carefully I analysed the moves it made.

Up and down.

Up.

And down.

Up.

Down.

 _It’s just like breathing…_ My eyes widened in shock as I remembered, whom I had invited into my bed. _Oh no!_

As quick as I dared I lifted my head off my furry – as I now noticed – “pillow”. Black fur. Black fur was all I could see. Black fur and my red strands dangling and curling above it. _Such a stark contrast… Quite pretty to look at…_

“Are you going to move anytime soon or just keep drooling on my pelt?”, a voice rasped. Blue clashed with golden-green. We stared at each other over his back. Akuma gave me a half smirk, as I felt my cheeks heat up. “How long was I asleep?”

“Before or after you curled against me and choose to make me your personal pillow?”, Akuma grinned as I reddened even further. By now my facial colour must rival my hair colour. “All in all”, I squeaked. For a long time a thoughtful hum was my only response, then: “About three to five hours. One of which you ended up using me as a pillow.”

“I’m sorry.”, I tried to hide behind my loose strands and my eyes fell on my state of dress. “Who put me into this nightgown?” The demon didn’t even look at it, choosing to rest his chin on his paws. “Your Lady did. She wouldn’t let you rest any longer than necessary in the armour.” With a nod I explained: “Keeping the armour on would draw more energy from my system to maintain it. As soon as it is separated from my hibernating body it dissipates until I call upon it again.”

“So undressing you from any clothes you created yourself, when you are in a coma due to an overuse of your magic, is a way to safe you energy and help you to restore your energy quicker.”, Akuma summed up. _Why again did you tell him that? He’s a demon for kami’s sake!_ , a tiny voice screamed in my head. On the other hand Akuma was my partner, so I needed to trust him with my life since we would be fighting together. Sooner or later it would come down to the trust between us. _“_ So undressing you is helping your energy”, Akuma gave me a lewd grin. “Don’t even think about it, demon. One touch and you’ll find your personal treasure gone missing.”, I growled at him darkly. “No need to be all bossy, darling”, he purred at me with half-lidded eyes. “You and I both know it would never work between us.”, I glared back at him. The cat only chuckled to himself, shooting me a daring grin: “Keep telling yourself that, darling.”

“If I remember correctly, you are now assigned to be my partner and second in command of the cadre. How about I finally introduce them to you?” The change in subject was not the most smooth, but I had no nerve to throw subtly and not-so-subtly hidden messages and threats around. Fortunately, Akuma seemed to notice my shift in mood, so there were no more quick remarks thrown my way. “Would you like to get dressed?”, he asked instead with an innocent tilt of the head. My eyes narrowed slightly. _He just plays around with me right now. I can feel it. Literally. Well then…_

“No, I planned on going outside in my nightgown. Do you see a problem there?”

“Absolutely not, darling. With your looks you could wear anything and look great.”

The cat demon hopped down from my futon, practically sliding to the door with silent steps. _He doesn’t really think I’d go out in just my nightgown, does he?_ , I wondered briefly. But then I remembered, whom I was talking to and whom I was, so I simply swung my legs over the side of the futon and carefully stood up. My knees wobbled since the muscles hadn’t been used in over two weeks. Quickly I sat back down. _I can’t go get changed when my legs shake, as if I might topple to the ground any other second._ I took a deep breath, feeling the cat demon’s eyes watching me carefully. _It’s risky, but there is no other way, if I don’t want Akuma to see me without any clothes on. Which definitely is not an option._

Another deep breath and I felt my long hair braid itself back into a traditional hairstyle with an elaborate bun held together by pretty combs with red ornaments, then falling loose, only some strands in the middle braided down and ornamented with little red flowers. Soft layers of silk wrapped themselves around my body, the nightgown giving way to one of my favourite kimonos with embroidered flowers and golden leaves.

As I turned towards Akuma, he only looked me over once, giving me a half-smile. “And suddenly you don’t look half-dead anymore.”, he commented. “Such a wonder what the right choice of clothes can do to you.”

“Thank you, kitty. Now, let’s go on a stroll, shall we?”

Akuma shifted to his humanoid form and held the door open for me to walk through, then shifting back into his feline from he seemed to love so much. We strode down the hallway of my home until we reached the courtyard, where the rest of the novices lounged in the late afternoon sun. _They’re all staring at us… All of them…_ , I noted with discomfort. _Some are practically fleeing the scene. Are they that afraid of a large kitten?_

A thought struck me: “How often did you visit me over the course of the past weeks since I fell into hibernation?” Akuma looked up at me with guarded eyes: “Every other day. Why do you ask?”

“Because then they should have gotten used to you by now.”, I told him. Without another word I turned towards a younger novice I knew to be very shy but polite. Her black hair had earned her the nickname Mel, from Melania, which literally means the Black. “Hey Mel”, I smiled at her. “Do you know what is going on here? They all seem kind of set off by something… You don’t happen to know anything about it?” Her huge doe eyes shot around nervously, not staying anywhere for longer than a few quick heartbeats. “Absolutely. Look at her. Dark circles beneath her eyes, I bet she hasn’t slept in days since the revelation.”, someone whispered close by.

“I… uh… I don’t know anything.”, Mel stuttered, still avoiding to look me in the eye. _She’s lying._ , I frowned. _Why would she lie to me? Mel is such a kind girl; she would never be dishonest about anything. We’ve talked about enough troubles in our education by now to not have any inhibitions about talking about critical subjects._

“Oh that poor girl, having to put up with a partner, who might very well endanger her life just because he thinks it’s fun.”, another novice said to his friend next to him. Mel played with strands of her hair before abruptly standing up and raking a hand through her hair. “I-I need to g-go now.”, she mumbled. “I have training right now.”

“But in the afternoon is no training…”, I stepped closer to her. Mel ducked her head, leaping backwards and weaving her way through the groups of novices away from the courtyard. “I would have killed him for his crime. Now all the holy treasures are sullied by his impureness.”

“What was that?”, my shoulders tensed. “Don’t pay her any mind, darling”, Akuma muttered. “She has been like that for some time now.”

“Something is bothering her, kitty. I can’t just let her be, she may need help.”

“Here he goes again. Why was he even allowed to be here? Damn demon.”, someone murmured. “She doesn’t, believe me.”, Akuma told me firmly, nearly forcefully. I whirled around with an angered scowl on my face, while he simply stood there and stared at the spot Mel had disappeared. “Tell me, what exactly do you know about her problems, huh?”

“More than you could imagine, darling”, he responded darkly. “Now, let’s go on, shall we? My fur is getting uncomfortably hot in this sun. Damn colour.” And with that my new partner trotted away, leaving me to follow him or be left behind. Hurrying after him, I caught more than one sympathetic stare. _Were they so worried for my wellbeing? I was just overusing my powers, nothing that hasn’t happened before to be honest. Why would they fret about that?_

“I heard he was assigned to Tia as her partner…”, a few girls to my right whispered.

“According to Dean, the demon broke into Lord Kangiten’s temple and attempted to steal.”, a novice a few steps behind me murmured hatefully.

At that point my eyes glued themselves to the figure of my giant kitten in front of me. Akuma held his head low; ears turned to the back, not folded to the skull, but turned to avoid hearing more than necessary and his tail flicking only slightly above the ground. A picture of stubbornness, but broken stubbornness. _They’ve been talking like this for a longer period of time!_ , I realised with silent horror. _How cruel have they been to him, when I wasn’t around? Akuma certainly tries to make himself as invisible as possible…_

“Akuma”, I said sternly. My partner looked back at me over his shoulder. “How long?” He knew what I meant, I saw it in his eyes, however he only turned his head and resumed his, now faster, marching across the yard. His tail and ears flickered nervously. That was all the answer I needed and all the information I needed for my calm to snap.

“You know, my partner brought me flowers just yesterday, we are great friends even when not in battle.”, a novice boasted. “I bet that demon will never honour her how she deserves.” His friend nodded in agreement: “I think maybe she is too soft hearted. That monster will take her apart piece by piece.” A third chimed in, quieter than the others: “Maybe we should take care of the problem for her, she is too nice to do anything about it.”

In a flutter of fabric I loomed over the gossiping novices. They fell silent once my raging anger registered with them. “Oh, please continue, don’t mind me”, I told them with a too sweet smile. “You were just debating whether or not to take care of the problem, the gods obviously are unwilling to care for themselves, by yourself. Go on, I am very interested in how you’d do that.”

The friends exchanged wary glances. No one spoke. The whole courtyard was silent, awaiting the next words. I didn’t let them wait for long, since I was so agitated. “Who of you thinks, that Akuma is unsuited to be my partner, let alone a novice to a god – and that all just because he’s a demon?”, I called out. “Who of you does think that, step forward.”, no one reacted. “Don’t be such cowards. Just some seconds ago you were all discussing it lividly how unfitting he is.”

Still no one reacted.

All around me energy began to cackle in the air, my kimono melting away to reveal a blood red chihaya, wide red trousers and a wide sleeved shirt, both made from cotton. With a hiss my hair accessories disappeared and my red hair fell wild around shoulders and back, some strands floating on the energy in the air. My tessen found its way into my hand.

“Who do you think aided me in my last battle against a manipulative giant boar demon, which destroyed a small human gathering? Who do you assume caught me when my overuse of powers, to repair the village, destroyed by the rampaging boar demon, took its toll on me? Who do you think carried me back here when I fell unconscious due to mentioned overuse? Who do you think watched my back both during the battle and while I slept for over two weeks?”, my voice steadily rose with each question I fired at them. “Slight hint: He is standing right over there, pretending to be invisible so you don’t pick on him. He is attempting to become one with the ground below his paws because you, you so called ‘pride of all gods’, can’t see beyond a façade, beyond a scheme you were told, beyond whatever prejudices you have formed in your ridiculously short and obviously very miserable life.” Some novices turned to each other, frowning at my choice of words. “Miserable because you are so self-absorbed, thinking so highly of yourself, that you completely forgot, that we are all one, one team. Life and Death are brother and sister, husband and wife. They go hand in hand. So get yourself some brain – may the kamis be in your favour – and think very carefully about what you did over the past weeks.”, I stared around with narrowed eyes. “And try to keep in mind, whose partner Akuma – yes, he has a name! – is, because I will not tolerate any funny business towards him.”

Silence fell over the courtyard, all novices staring at me with wide eyes, fear and astonishment shining in their depths. No one dared to say a single word to me, who I must look like the greatest warrior of all times reincarnate.

“Good”, I stood straight to my full height. “I see you got my point. Now get out of my sight before my hands slip. We don’t need any more accidents today now, do we?” The others scrambled to their feet, nearly falling over each other in an attempt to get out of my striking range as quickly as possible. 

* * *

 

“I have to admit, I rarely show off just whose daughter I am, but when I do, it usually results in very polite novices for some decades.”, I explained apologetically once Akuma and I were alone in the courtyard. “It’s helpful to remind them of their place in the hierarchy from time to time. Just as a change from sweet lovable Tia.” Silence was my only response. _Oh god, did I go over the top? Is he angry with me for taking this over for him_? _Why doesn’t he say anything?_

Panicking about the implications of my partner’s lack of reaction, I slowly turned around. Akuma stared at me with huge golden-green eyes. In them was so much wonder it nearly broke my heart. “Why did you do that?”, he wanted to know. “Why did you speak up for me, defended me?”

“You are my partner” I blinked in confusion. “I care for you as a friend of sorts. We have to look after each other. Just as we do in battle.” A thud reached my ears as Akuma dropped down on his hind legs, staring off into nothingness. _Did I do something wrong? Why doesn’t he say anything? Oh dear, I bet now he wishes he had another partner._

Finally the cat demon looked up at me: “No one has ever done anything similar for me.”

“Not even your friends? Any siblings? Your parents must have defended you, didn’t they?”

Akuma shook his head resolutely. “Between demons everyone fights for themselves. There are neither friends nor family bounds. The only ones looking out for each other are twins, because no one would bother checking, if the right twin gets punished for doing something wrong. So to prevent that to avoid being punished for their twin’s trysts. Other than that everyone is fair game.”

“Not with us”, I smiled tenderly. “The two of us are partners in battle. I still don’t know, if me trusting you was the best idea, I’ve had, but it cannot be helped. We are a team and we support each other no matter against whom.” With two large steps I was at his side, stroking him between the ears. “Now come, kitty, I’ll introduce you to the rest of the team. I promise they are nice – most of the time. However they don’t gossip behind your back that is for sure. Those five know better than that. Do you want to meet them?” Akuma looked up from beneath my petting hand and gave a tiny nod I probably would have missed, hadn’t my hand already rested atop his head. My smile widened: “Well then, let’s go meet some friends, hm?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seven Gods of Luck - also Seven Lucky Gods or Seven Gods of Fortune; are believed to bring good luck, just as the number seven, which explains the amount and worship of this group of gods. (As well as the seven kwamis?)
> 
> Bishamon - one of the Seven Gods of Luck; also called Bishamonten, is believed to bring good luck in war and battles, so naturally depicted as a fierce warrior.
> 
> Fukurokuju - one of the Seven Gods of Luck; god of wisdom, luck, longevity, wealth and happiness, who is depicted as a hermit.
> 
> Benzaiten - one of the Seven Gods of Luck; the only female god of luck (at least in the "traditional" assembly of gods) and she was given the attributes of talent, beauty and music. Since she is also the patron of artists, writers and geishas (among others), I chose to give her the make-up of a geisha.
> 
> Geisha - are Japanese entertainers, who act as hostesses and entertain their most male guests with classical music, dance, games and conversation.
> 
> Juroujin - one of the Seven Gods of Luck; the god of longevity and the elderly, who is probably based on a historic person.
> 
> Chihaya - a robe usually only Mikos (priestesses/female shamans) wear, consisting of wide red trousers and a wide sleeved shirt, both made from cotton. In contrast to my depiction, the coloring is normally a white shirt and red trousers.


	4. The Cadre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Plagg meets Tikki's friends and explodes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So… Well, that update took longer than I anticipated… But then there was Christmas and exams. At least now I have more time to write again. So updates will hopefully be more frequent again. Explanations are at the bottom as usual. Then there is only one thing left to say: I don't own Miraculous but wish you fun with the new chapter.

“Where are we going?”, Akuma wanted to know. “As I told you before we are going to meet up with the rest of my cadre.”, I told him, which earned me a sideways glance. “Why is it your cadre anyway?”, he asked. Caught off guard I needed a second to think about it. This alliance between novices of different masters had been formed some hundred or thousand years ago. Not that long ago, I was well aware of that, but still the edges started to get slightly fuzzy. “I think it’s called my cadre, because I had the idea and got us all together. Along with the fact that I am the daughter of Creation, which kind of makes me the highest rank novice around and stuff.”

“So technically if you were overpowered by … someone … the cadre would be lead by him?”, Akuma had a glint in his eyes I absolutely disliked. I felt the need to crush his plan before the demon was even able to formulate it fully. “Sorry to shatter your little dream, but it’s just a name given to us by the gods. They consider me the leader, though, to be honest, we’re all a team. There is no leader. Everyone has their duties, which we fulfil to the best of our abilities.” His ears twitched, obviously trying to detect any lies hidden within my carefully chosen words. But there were none. Neither of us bothered to go into further detail on this point, choosing to let the topic rest for the moment.

 

* * *

 

Finally we reached the little pavilion we used as headquarter. My fellow teammates seemed to have assembled some time prior to our official meeting. Wayzz had his hands folded inside the wide sleeves of his green Chinese clothing. Despite probably having sensed our presence by now his eyes stayed trained on the small lake beyond the pavilion. At a table nearby Duusu was arranging peacock feathers she had collected with different shades of greens. Pollen twirled around in a new yellow and black striped kimono while humming a happy tune – until Trixx in fox form ran around her and nearly tripped Pollen. Then the fox got a lecture from said woman. And finally I found Nooroo, who looked at the rest of the cadre with his sad eyes, before he turned around and smiled his pretty smile at our approaching forms.

“They don’t look that strong.”, Akuma murmured under his breath. “You don’t look that impressive either, kitty.”, I replied quietly. A pleased smile tugged at the corners of my lips as I noticed the demon staring up at me in offence. However Akuma didn’t dwell on the comment for long, choosing to move on for once. “You forgot to mention you had a kitsune in your cadre.”

“It must have slipped my mind.”, I said curtly. Akuma narrowed his eyes at me for a second, before going on. “And what’s it with all those different colours? I thought you were a team?”, he wondered. “We are a team.”, I explained calmly, making sure the rest of my friends could hear my voice. “It doesn’t have to show in our style of clothing.”

“So this is the long awaited new member?”, Pollen looked the demon up and down. “Hm. Nice cat.” Akuma stared back at her with bright golden-green eyes. “Nice stripes. Are you a bee?”

“Actually I am the novice of Lady Bhramari, goddess of the bees.”, Pollen straightened her back. “So technically speaking you could call me a bee, yes.” _Thank goodness Pollen is so aloof about everything concerning her ancestry. As long as Akuma doesn’t break rules or misbehaves she shouldn’t have a reason to dislike him… Probably…_

Akuma however didn’t look impressed. He turned his stare on me again. “Do they know that I am the new second in command?” The gasps of my friends were answer enough, honestly, but the demon chose to ignore to hear them. I was growling inside my head. How could he dare to bring this up so carelessly without even being properly introduced to all of them?! I glared back at the cat demon. “Might you tell me how I was supposed to accomplish that, when the gods decided it just now and I was recovering from hibernation until very very recently? Besides, you were literally at my side the whole time. You knew I had no chance to tell them beforehand.”

Akuma tilted his head in fake innocence. “Oh, right”, he finally said. “It must have slipped my mind.” By now I was shaking with silent rage. _Calm down Tikki. It’s done now. He did it as some kind of payback he thought I owed him for the thing with the so-called kitsune. There is nothing you can do about it, neither was it a personal thing. No destructive thoughts, you can do it._

With a deep exhale I relaxed my inner tension – some flowers dying at my feet. “Wow”, Wayzz stared at the blackened ground to my feet. “Seems our new member brings out the destruction in you.”

“He is destruction.”, I responded without an ounce of humour. Trixx laughed lightly, getting closer to the cat demon – still in her fox form. From the upper-most step to the pavilion she gave Akuma another scrutinizing look. “Are you sure he’s a demon? To me he looks like a giant fluffy kitten.” Within the blink of an eye Akuma shifted to his humanoid form, ears and tail flicking in agitation. “You were saying, Foxy?”, he drawled with a hidden growl. Just a second later Trixx had shifted to her humanoid form as well, a top and skirt hugging her curves, as her white hair whipped around her shoulders as she snarled at the taller man. “Another shape-shifter?!”, Trixx bared her teeth. “How dare they try to replace me!”

“Calm down Foxy”, Akuma replied. “The gods never planned to replace you. After all, I am your superior.” _He is trying too hard to intimidate her. Trixx doesn’t easily step down. Even less so to another shape-shifter…_ , I watched the two of them closely. “Who is he?”, Nooroo wanted to know. “This is Akuma. He was caught trying to steal from my master – about a year ago I think. It was either killing him on the spot or him getting claimed by a god. Fortunately Lady Li Shou took it upon herself to take the insolent cat in.”

“Insolent?”, Akuma chimed in, turning to look down on me. However neither my friends – except for the still snarling Trixx – nor I paid him any mind. “He will never be my superior!”, Trixx growled. “Never. We don’t have ranks, and we sure as hell won’t introduce them now just to please the demon.”

“Was his fur black from the start?”, Wayzz wondered. “Actually he had the colouring of an Iriomote cat. Only since Lady Li Shou had him train the skills of destruction his fur turned darker in shade.”

“Something else might turn a darker shade if you don’t stop ignoring and or threatening me.”, the demon threatened. Pollen looked down on him over the bridge of her nose. “We don’t make idle threats. And don’t you dare attack us. We are your family now as much as Lady Li Shou and her bunch of orphaned cats are. And we stand up for each other. Attack one means attacking all.”, she straightened even further. “You can call yourself lucky to be accepted by Tia this easily. Now, what is your real name?”

“Tell me yours, I’ll tell you mine, Queenie.”, Akuma sneered at Pollen. Duusu came one step closer to the steps, standing slightly in front of the rest despite her usual shy demeanour. “Do you mean to tell us, Tia doesn’t know your name either?” _Oh crap. Duusu is careful when it comes to strangers… Maybe she won’t trust him at all and that would ruin the dynamic of the cadre... I have to do something._

“We gave him the choice to either die or be one of us. There was from the beginning no reason for him to trust us.”, I explained. “But if he sees how well we keep watch over one another, I am sure Akuma will come to trust us enough to reveal his true name.”

“A demon never gives his true name to anyone.”

“I didn’t think I’d tell them my real name ever as well in the beginning.”, Trixx suddenly drew back. She still looked angry but at least she wasn’t snarling openly at the demon anymore. “And look where I am a bunch of hundred years later. They all know my name, could do all kinds of magic tricks to me, only it doesn’t ever occur in our circle. We trust each other. No one breaches that trust. Absolutely no one.” It almost sounded like another threat. Akuma leaned against the railing of the staircase. His gaze was full of arrogance and dark amusement. This was an Akuma I had only seen at the very beginning of his residence. Ever since that first day I had had the impression, that slowly but surely we formed a bond and that he was opening up to me at least. Now everything was just as before. “How should I know?”, his voice was void of emotion. “I have never been part of your precious little cadre. Besides, all I see is one very tame kitsune. Let me guess: Lap dog of the great Inari?”

“I am not a lap dog!”

“Calm down Rukki.”, Nooroo told Trixx. He looked back at me in question. I gave a curt nod, knowing fully well I had to deal with her raging spirit later on but needed to get her to calm first. “Take Kwaan with you. Maybe she can help you.” Nodding in acknowledgment, Nooroo, Trixx and Duusu disappeared into the back of the pavilion. Akuma only laughed at the display. “What’s enough is enough.”, I turned on him. “I thought we were finally getting somewhere, why are you trying to destroy everything we worked so hard to achieve?”

“We?”, Akuma snarled and folded his ears against his skull. “I never asked for any of this, I already told you! You were always going on and on about how generous the gods were, how I would come to like it here if only I stayed long enough. Do you want to know something funny? I don’t want to stay. I have never wanted to leave a place more than this hell you call home. After you defended me I thought that maybe just maybe you were different from all the other people I encountered. That you really saw beyond the mask.”, his gold-green eyes narrowed. “Now I come to realise you know me just as well as you did on that first night a year and a half ago. You accepted me as your partner because you thought I was useful. And your so-called ‘wonderful friends’? Well, they really aren’t any better than the rest of the novices.” I stood there, stunned. Had I known Akuma still felt that way, would I have done anything different in the past? Would I have allowed him to fight his own wars instead of playing the ‘I am the daughter of Creation’-card? _No, I wouldn’t._ , I answered the question myself. _Because I didn’t do it for the reasons he thinks. I did it with his best interest at heart. It was never my intent to make him feel as if he owed me something…_

“I whish you would have killed me on that first night. Back then I was ready to die; I knew there was nothing coming from comrades other than pain. But I let you get me an adoptive family. I allowed you to worm your way inside my brain and make me believe in the good in people, make me worried for you and accept me oh so graciously into your little circle of friends and as your partner.”, Akuma backed away from the pavilion. “How could I be so weak?”

“This is not weakness!”, I called out as my brain slowly wrapped itself around what he had just admitted. “This is not what weakness is like. What you feel-”

“I don’t feel anything.”, Akuma interrupted me. His head was bowed and turned away from me. His whole body language was closed off and distant, as if he was already drawing back into his own world. _Oh no, I have to get him to listen to me!_ , for a second I panicked. “Please, Akuma, listen to me!”, I cried. “We are partners. You can trust me with anything, I promise!”

“I don’t want your promises. Your word means nothing to me.” His voice was cold, void of emotion, as the demon shifted into his feline form and disappeared.

Numbly I stood there at the headquarters’ porch to everything I deeply cared about. And my heart was breaking for the one thing that would never set one foot upon these holy grounds ever again. Somehow my instincts knew that this would be the last time I’d see Akuma, my kitty, for a long time.

An hour later came the news of a demon attack in the human world got to us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kitsune - is a Japanese fox demon, they are tricksters and shape-shifters and can be either good or evil.
> 
> Bhramari - is the goddess of bee, wasps and hornets. She is typically depicted as holding a mace, trident, sword and shield in her four hands.
> 
> Li Shou - is a cat goddess. The gods assigned her to watch over the world, but falling cherry blossoms or patches of sunlight distracted her. So the gods decide to give this assignment to the humans, while Li Shou henceforth watches over the circle of day and night, with her eyes lightening up the sky.
> 
> Inari - is a god of foxes, of fertility, rice, tea and sake, of agriculture and industry, of general prosperity and worldly success. He is depicted as either male or female and usually is accompanied by white foxes.


	5. The Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which lots of shadow dragons are fought

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look who's back with another chapter for the Miraculous History. I'm sorry for the long wait, but finally semester holidays gave me the time needed to write a little bit on some stuff. So, there's nothing left to say, except: Have Fun

It turned out a group of demons had chosen a human village as its playground. It made my insides curl in anger despite the overall numbness I felt since Akuma left me. Of course I felt guilty, honestly, who wouldn’t after what he had thrown at my head? _This is not the place or the time Tikki._ , I reminded myself. _You are here to save these humans from certain death no matter where that stubborn kitten of yours went._

“Wayzz”, I asked calmly. “What do we see here?”

“A whole bunch of trouble.”, Trixx chimed in without being asked. I bit my tongue to not rise to the challenge. _Get a grip on yourself. This is a mission. There is no time for personal battles or sentiments._

Wayzz’s eyes swept over the village with practiced calm, always finding shelter, always knowing just what to do. I relied more on his capability to stay calm and think positive than anyone else. _Wayzz is protection and wisdom; Trixx is tricks and shape shifting. Nooroo can claim champions; Duusu sees the future and can call rainstorms if properly motivated. Pollen is able to call forth uncountable insects and wields her weapons with all of her four arms. We are a team. We can do this._

“Three dozen humans either huddling together over in the direction of the main house or scattered and running, trying to get there.”, Wayzz listed. Pollen stirred, the glamour falling off her additional pair of arms, which already crawled with bumblebees. She was poised to attack to protect the humans. “We need to think before acting.”, Nooroo told her, gently pulling Pollen back down. I was thankful, that Nooroo was not afraid of being stung by Pollen’s insects, since I did not quite have the capacity of mind to calm her down. The team was cut short of one member I had come to rely on more than I cared to admit even to myself and his loss cut deep. Forcing my lungs to fill with air the moment the wind changed and blew the smell of smoke and burned flesh right into my face was not the best idea. It made me gag and the screams of fear that could be heard over the other battle sounds didn’t help either.

Duusu curled into a ball, trying to become one with the background when faced with the cries of battle. “Wayzz”, I turned my attention back on the oldest member of our cadre. “Protect the villagers. Don’t let any of the demons roaming the grounds get near them. I don’t care how you make sure of that, just do it. Trixx”, I whirled to look into the fox-like features of my friend, “Make traps. Lots of them for the demons to fall into. I am still unsure how many there are, so…”

“Got it!” Without further question the kitsune darted away into the chaos of the village and disappeared. That left me with Pollen, Nooroo and Duusu. The first was already buzzing with energy, quite literally, and fury to protect the humans and make everything work out. Her four arms crawled with bees and wasps and spiders and what not, while her hands clutched her longsword, shield and trident. “Do what you do best.”, I told Pollen and she disappeared in a blur, undoubtedly out to weaken the demons with the help of her poisonous friends.

“What do you want me to do?”, Duusu asked tentatively. She was shy, yes, but by far not helpless. “Could you use your abilities to report back and forth between us all, please? We need to be absolutely in tune with each other.”, I requested from her. With a bright smile Duusu nodded her head and fluttered out of existence somewhere into hiding until her ability of foreseeing told her where to be first. _She would have made a great warrior with her rainstorms and all that jazz, but that isn’t her. She is calmer than that. Now, let’s see, whom we are facing._

I turned to Nooroo, the last member I needed to find a place for. “We are a team, there is no leader.”, he told me again, his eyes stern. “We all know our place and still allow you to assign us to them, because it is calming us down.” It was no question, so I simply looked at him without replying anything. “I’ll look into the weaknesses of the demons and powers of the humans. Who knows, maybe we have a true hero among us?” That was no question either, so he didn’t wait for my answer and swept away into the dust whirled up by the raging demons.

* * *

 As it turned out it was a group of four shadow dragons, their bodies hidden in clouds of smoke emitting in constant streams from their muzzles. Although these dragons were not scaled, since this would reflect light and disturb their illusions, the skin was hard to crack. _A little bit of destruction would be great right about now._ , I thought automatically. My stomach dropped. Even if I reached out, my fingers wouldn’t be met with the calming sensation of fur. _He left you behind. He left, because you were too damn proud to tell him how much you feared for him and how much he meant… There is no time for that now! Get it together Tikki. Get your head in the game!_

A growl came from my right side and my head snapped around just in time to see the muzzle of one of the monsters closing in on me with lightning speed. Instinctively I called for my power. A gate opened inside my chest. The power crackling between my fingers was not that of creation, the blade of the scythe appearing in my hand as black as the night. Destruction had been on my mind and destruction had answered my call. Dark armour materialised while my stance broadened, muscled tightening. _Just come at me._ , I dared the shadow dragon silently. I lowered my chin, a grim smile spreading across my face as I ducked beneath the snapping fangs of the demon. And still while falling under jaw of the dragon, I rammed my weapon upwards into the armoured skin of the demon. It howled in pain where the blade struck.

 _Too slow._ , a dark voice in my head gloated. Without having to think about it I dropped to the ground and hurried towards the unguarded belly of the beast. Dark bladed Sais, short dagger-like, three-forked weapons, appeared in my hands and cut through the skin of the dragon’s belly, making way for my destruction to seep into the demon’s body. A high-pitched howl brought me back to my senses, turning my armour back to its normal red colour and letting the weapons disappear. Seeing the legs give out I leaped out from under the demon’s stomach.

I tried to catch my breath and clear my head, warily staying just out of reach of the dragon. _Oh gods, where did all that destruction come from? Why did I call upon it instead of my natural birth right?_ , I wondered. _Were my thoughts leaning towards destroying this beast instead of decapitating it? Heck, I really should concentrate more._

Suddenly the mist around the shadow dragon cleared, startling me out of my thoughts I had sunk into without actively noticing it. What was revealed was a heap of black muscles and straggly fur-feathers and two sets of dull yellow eyes, almost fully closed. “Bloody hell”, I cursed under my breath. The dragon was actually about thirty metres long, at least from what I could guess. My ko-naginata appeared in my hands, this time with a more ragged, but not black, blade. _Well then, let’s get this party started._ , I felt my muscles go weak. _After I take a short break…_

Around me I could slowly make out the sounds of other fighters. Bees and scorpions could be heard scuttling after a screaming shadow dragon while Pollen constantly attacked it with her longsword, the trident seemingly lost somewhere in the battle. Nooroo must have found some human heroes, whose battle cries mixed with the general cacophony heard around. Apparently not all were as successful as Pollen with her little friends, screams of pain and death echoing in my ears and making them ring. “At least some of them might survive.”, I told myself half loud. “The humans need to learn how to fight and Nooroo only chooses the strongest ones to be his champions.” This reassurance however did nothing to help me recover quicker from the strain of using the ounce of destruction I called my own, but which always led to utter exhaustion since I was a daughter of Creation and not meant to destroy. But I had to stay up on my feet. I needed to prove to myself that I was able to fight even though a certain black cat was not circling around me. _Damn, get your head in the game. This isn’t training. This is war._

Before me the shadow dragon’s four eyes slowly opened again as consciousness returned to the mighty creature, slowly shadows began to engulf it once more. I cursed myself for letting my worry for my friends and the strain of using destruction carry me away enough to not seize my chance of slaying the dragon while it was unable to fight back. _Or maybe I want it to be able to defend itself? Maybe I want equal chances for both of us? Ugh, Tikki, get it together and concentrate!_

The demon shrieked and lunged again. This time I swung my weapon gracefully in an upward circle. It caught the underside of its jaw, cutting skin and muscles. Another shriek and the demon tumbled to the side, nearly pulling me with it, since I still held on to my weapon. I fell hard on my back, as the massive tail of the demon swept my feet out from underneath me. The air was crushed from my lungs, leaving me panting for breath with the demon shaking its massive head and returning the focus of its four eyes to my person. Without thinking a shuriken appeared between my finger and imbedded itself in the upper left eye.

Unfortunately the demon was not entirely stupid despite being blinded by pain and it tumbled in my direction. My powers buzzed beneath my skin, making it hard to concentrate on anything really. They wanted to wash over the demon and force it to submit to the power of the gods. _No!_ , I cried in my head. _That is not what I want. I mean it is, but… Fighting may not be any better on the other hand I am weakened from the usage of my powers. If I overdue it this time there will be no Akuma to carry me to safety._

From the corner of my eye I noticed another demon closing in on me. My instincts drew me to my feet, weapon ready, shuriken close by. However, to my utter surprise, the demon crashed into my first attacker. The mighty jaws snapping shut around the shadow dragon’s neck until a loud crack signalled its death. Carefully I treaded away from the looming form of the new demon, trying to find the best possible angle to attack. “Geez, calm down”, rumbled a familiar voice as the shadow dragon turned around. Its purple eyes were rimmed with white just like Trixx’s and even the baring of fangs looked more like a teasing challenging smirk. “Don’t attack me and I won’t attack you. Easy deal, right?”

“How?”

“Duusu”, was the only answer I received. Quickly I thanked Duusu for her foresight. It was so much handier on the battlefield than anyone could imagine, even if the shy girl refused to fight for real.

Trixx in her thirty-metre dragon body hobbled past me and threw her weight into the next demon she could make out. Taking a deep breath, I followed her example and hurled myself into battle once more.

* * *

 

My strength could not rebuilt as quickly as I would have liked. I fought alongside human heroes against foaming shadow dragons. They were all breathing heavy by now and Duusu brought them back and forth between the shelter of Wayzz’s shield to recover and the fighting scene to engage in battle. Not many returned once behind the shield. Even less survived the first battle at all. Most of them were slain by the claws of the dragons.

Even Pollen was now mostly relying on her insects to weaken the dragons and only deliver the last blow with her longsword. Had I had to guess in the beginning, I would have said there were around five shadow dragons, all about thirty metres long. Now I could guess there were around ten to fifteen or so cloaked in shadows and varying in size, thus probably being of different age. Which brought one question specifically to the front of my mind: If these were smaller shadow dragons, then was there an adult close by and likely to kill us all upon arrival or were these just unfortunate hatchlings?

“Tikki”, Duusu called out over the noise. “Busy”, I panted between swings of my ko-naginata against the muzzle of the shadow dragon to distract it long enough for Pollen's highly poisonous scorpions to crawl all over its back. “Important!”, Duusu replied stubbornly. “Wayzz has all the humans under the protection of the shield.”

I ducked under the swipe of claws from one of the front paws of the shadow dragon. Sweat made my hair stick to my forehead. One Shuriken imbedded itself into the last seeing eye of the demon.

“Interesting”

Another swipe, another duck.

“Nooroo also said his heroes won’t be able to hold out much longer. He asked for them to be returned to Wayzz as well.”

Pollen gave the signal for her minions and the scorpions simultaneously buried their spikes in the dragon from above and below.

“Fascinating”

With a last howl the monster collapsed, overwhelmed by the fast working poison, ultimately crushing a good hundred to thousand scorpions under its belly.

Now I had a short moment to breathe before the next one might choose to go behind my back for a sneak attack, so I turned to where I had heard Duusu’s voice. Only she had already disappeared – along with all the human heroes Nooroo had sired. He himself wasn’t to be seen anywhere either, probably completely drained of energy for holding up the transformation of at least twenty heroes at the same time. _Okay, that leaves me, Pollen and her insects and Trixx in the frame for… Well, however many shadow dragons may still be around. I wonder, where Trixx went, haven’t seen her since she rescued me… Probably checking on her traps and killing off the ones trapped inside them._

My thoughts didn’t linger this time around, adrenaline making me hyperaware of everything around me. First I noticed Pollen having gone away and already engaged with the next shadow dragon.

At first I wanted to follow her, only a sudden burst of fire prevented me from doing so. The dragons had had the element of surprise on their side from the beginning, due to the shadows obscuring them. And apparently one of the beasts had chosen me as its new target. _Very well. My powers may not have recovered enough to use them in defeating it altogether, but at least my weapons and armour are holding out so far. Let’s get this over with._

This time I didn’t smile or think of destruction, as the demon and I began the deathly dance. I merely avoided being hit and tried to tire the demon out. My tactic involved “poking” it with my ko-naginata while simultaneously eliminating eyes and tail in tandem with shuriken and katanas. Only problem being the mighty claws suddenly appearing out of thick smoke to swipe at me. Not thinking for long, I jumped into the air to avoid the hit – another shadow appearing beside me. This time there was no room to evade the heavy tail crashing into my side and hurling my body to the ground. The air was pressed from my lungs and for a second, the armour wavered around my body.

I went into a kind of shock, my muscles refusing to work at all, leaving me lying on my back in the middle of battle. Completely helpless with no idea from where the next hit may come since shadow dragons were hard to make out amidst their shadows. _Oh darn, I have to get up or else this might be the last fight I will ever see…_

With a low groan I forced my muscles into working and heaved myself to my feet. It felt as if someone decided to repeatedly smash a hammer into my skull from within. Carefully I shook my head, flexed my muscles until they seemed to work. My sight returned to normal although I felt my power of Creation weakening as it repaired my body.

The shadow I could now see closing in however did not help to relieve the aches in any way. _Another shadow dragon. Great… As if it hasn’t been hard enough to fight until now._

There was clearly no time to loose, so I repaired my armour and called forth the ko-naginata. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the opened jaws closing in on me. _Okay. Now or never. I can do this, I can fight them long enough for Duusu to see and send some help. She did it before, she can do it again._

My senses picked up movement behind my back. _If this is another demon I have absolutely no chance to defy it._

The shadow behind my back leapt off the ground. Half expecting it to crash down on me with some kind of suffocating fog, claws or fangs, I swung around in a crouch. However the shadow didn’t even seem to notice me. It dived down into the smoke where I suspected the back of one of the dragons was. My eyes widened. _That looked like… No it can’t be. Trixx must have taken a new form. My eyes want to trick me into believing something that cannot be._

But the word slipped from my lips in a silent prayer. “Akuma.”

The answering roar nearly had me weeping at the feet of the demon. My kitten had returned to fight by my side once more! I felt the connection between us flare, return to a life I didn’t know existed. Power flooded my senses as I whirled around to the shadow dragon. A smug looking giant black cat sat atop its back, calmly avoiding the snapping jaws. “Seriously”, Akuma drawled. “I can’t leave you alone for five minutes without you managing to throw yourself into some new danger.”

“That’s kind of part of the job, you know?”, I retorted with a grin. _He’s back! He’s back. He’s back!_ , an inner voice chanted. I ducked beneath a swipe from the tail of the demon, as it turned around itself. At least its companion was keeping its distance now that the first dragon was slightly preoccupied and couldn’t be trusted. “What exactly”, a shuriken bore itself into an eye of the shadow dragon, “Are you doing here?” Akuma kept dodging the strikes and teeth before landing beside me. “Don’t tell me you’re not happy to see me?”, he leaned his flank into my side. My fingers tangled in the soft fur and for a moment there were no words needed.

With the cat demon off the shadow dragon the second one rejoined the fight once more, both circling us. “Why are you back?”, I rephrased my question and lashed out at the snapping jaws. “Don’t tell me”, Akuma repeated as he buried his claws in the paws of one dragon, “You’re not happy to see me.” I hurled another shuriken at my enemy and ducked beneath the swipe of claws. “You were just in time.” That was as close to a ‘Thank you’ we’d ever get and we both knew it.

The shadow dragon was quickly loosing all its four eyes. “Hey there”, I smiled before I kicked the demon in front of me square the jaw. A few fangs actually broke with the force of my strike but all in all it only helped to infuriate the beast even further. “We might have a problem.”, a new voice uttered. It sounded faint and uncertain. “What is it?”, I asked without looking up at Duusu. Naturally I didn’t exactly want to hear about problems in the middle of a fight against demon dragons in a human village. “One of the females is kind of”, Duusu fidgeted so loudly I even heard it above the crush of Akuma ripping into the side of the dragon and it howling in pain and anger. “What?”, he screamed at the top of his lungs, trying his best to stay upright on the dragon’s back. “It’s having a baby.”, the novice forced herself to say. “She asked for the daughter of Creation.”

“I’m kind of busy here.” My ko-naginata severed the head of the shadow dragon from its neck. In a whirl I was on Akuma’s heal, weaving my way around the cat demon’s attacks and ultimately ramming an oversized katana right trough the thick skin of the shadow dragon into it’s heart. With a shudder the beast collapsed.

Once the fog cleared away, the mounts of four slain shadow dragons became visible. _Four. We fought against at least four of these creatures. Akuma and I killed two, I wounded at least one, blinded it with my throwing stars… The human heroes fought against two. Pollen and Trixx killed off I don’t even want to know how many._ , my eyes widened slightly. True, it was not uncommon for Trixx to kill a good part of the enemies, however she usually kept to trickery and deception. “Where’s Trixx?”, I called up to Duusu without even caring Akuma now knew her real name. “Where is she?” The panic in my voice startled me. Duusu looked around frantically, seemingly seeing nothing with either her talent or her eyes. “The human…”

“Will get through labour even without the daughter of Creation by her side.”, I told her firmly. “I want to know where Trixx is. She never killed as many demons as she did today. It usually isn’t her style.” Duusu’s head snapped from one direction to the other seeming so on edge Akuma began to growl low in his throat. “Would you mind answering Tia?”, he asked the other novice directly. Surprised by his words the seer turned her attention back on us. “I don’t know, what this means, but I can’t see Trixx’s future anymore…”, she shivered. “It’s as if something either already happened to her or will happen in the immediate future that will decide whether or not she’ll stay a novice.” The young female chuckled nervously. “I may not be able to read the future of demons and creatures driven by instinct, but surely Trixx won’t become such a thing, right?”

“Did-”, my voice died out. A new shadow moved towards us. Akuma hissed. A strikingly similar one answered him. Within the blink of an eye a red fox snarling at the cat by my side was revealed. Trixx’s fur was stained with blood, both her own and that of our enemies. Her purple eyes shone with unearthly light. “Away with you, demon!”, she snarled. Duusu, whom had carefully landed on my other side, paled considerably. “She’s in a blood frenzy.”, the novice shook with fear. “And she thinks Akuma is the enemy. We have to get away from her until she calms down, get out of her way or…”

“Are you implying to leaver her on her own?”, Akuma bristled beneath my palm. “I know a blood frenzy when I see one and believe me when I say that leaving her to it won’t make anything easier.”

 _He speaks of it as if he knows exactly what it’s like. As if he knows how she feels…_ , I thought. _I wonder in how many blood frenzies he found himself in with no one to stand by his side._

My heart clenched at the thought of my kitty in such a vulnerable state all on its own. “Go back to the others”, I told Duusu without directly looking at her. “Bring the humans to safety. Get the woman giving birth first. She and her baby need to survive this. Tell the villagers, they need to build themselves a new home. This one is cursed with bad luck by now. Not even I can purify it anymore.” Duusu nodded her understanding and disappeared in the next heartbeat to wherever the rest was hidden.

Akuma stalked in front of me putting himself between Trixx and me. “You have to go. Don’t look back. She’s dangerous.”, he told me. “No, I can’t leave her alone. I need to make sure she’s okay and does nothing she might regret when she comes back around.”, I shook my head, sending my red hair flying. _I owe her that much…_

Across the yard the red fox crouched low, ready to pounce any minute. “Tia, she is beyond recognition of anyone. She would attack you without remorse.”, Akuma urged. _He’s right you know._ , a tiny voice in the back of my head whispered. _Trixx doesn’t even look as if she might recognize you if you crashed right in her face. There is nothing you can do for her now except let Akuma do whatever he can to stop her from doing anything cruel._

 _No!_ , I screamed back at that voice. _Trixx never was in a blood frenzy before, I may not know how to handle her but the least I can do is stay by her side and learn the tricks Akuma uses to calm her. I need to be prepared to save my friend should it occur again._

The cat demon used my short rush of fear to push me back, away from the snarling kitsune. “I have to try.”, my stubbornness kicked in. “She is part of the team, we are friends. Friends don’t abandon each other.”

Despite Akuma obviously preferring to fight the shape shifter on his own without me hanging around where I could get in the way, he didn’t outright protest. For a few precious moments the only sound around us was Trixx’s low hissing. Carefully I stepped around my demon cat towards my friend. Her fur stood on end and she bared her teeth defiantly the closer I came. “Trixx” I had to clear my throat. “Trixx, it’s me. Please come back. We miss you already.”

“There’s no sense in talking to her.”, Akuma told me. “We need to take her down before she can fall even deeper into her frenzy.”

“Do you intend to kill her?”

“If it can’t be helped…”

Being the devious thing he was, Akuma used my momentary shock. He slipped around me and pounced the same second Trixx did. The two animals met in mid-air, curling and biting at any unprotected flesh they could find. After the first round of toe curling sounds both had bleeding wounds along their hides. “Stop!”, I cried, unable to take any side in this fight. On the one hand I didn’t want to hurt Trixx, whom I had known for so many years and fought so many fights with, on the other hand my instincts told me Akuma was right that the friend I knew had disappeared for good. The only problem was with the two of them intertwined in battle I could do nothing without fearing to hurt either of them in the process.

“Please, stop”, I heard myself plead. While Akuma backed away in my direction, Trixx paced like a tiger caught in a cage. “She’s far gone.”, Akuma repeated, despite his withdrawal. “You can’t reach her where she is now.”

“I can at least try.”, I snapped back, my patience running thin with the nerves pricking at my senses. The cat demon turned its black head to look me over for injuries; maybe because my voice trembled more the longer I spoke. Unfortunately Akuma was right. Trixx was far away from being the playful kitsune I knew. Killing off as many demons as she most likely had – and not only with her traps – and consuming demon blood might have brought out her own inner demon. _Which is why we usually keep her away from the immediate battle. It always was her wish not to fight directly with demons. Only this time it couldn’t be avoided and now she pays the price…_

As soon as my partner turned his back on her the shape shifter sprung forwards with outstretched claws and snapping fangs. _No! Not again!_

Before I could even register what I was doing, my body was in front of Akuma’s shielding him from the impact. The force of her short claws digging into my suddenly unprotected skin took my breath away. _My powers are gone!_ , my eyes widened in shock. _Why do they have to shut down now of all times?!_

Trixx’s teeth scraped across my neck, leaving burning marks all over. Far away I could hear Akuma snarling and howling as if my pain was his own. I saw the clearing purple eyes of Trixx, who stared down at me in utter shock before a black shadow pushed her over and away from me. My wounds ripped as the claws were dragged through them again, tearing a cry from my throat.

I felt my live run thin with every droplet of blood oozing out of the multiple cuts along with the complete drain of my power of creation.

Limply my head rolled to the side.

 _This is it._ , my brain informed me. _This is the moment you’ll die. Lying in the aftermath of two fights in some human village no one will ever care to remember. What an utterly useless-_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kitsune - is a Japanese fox demon, they are tricksters and shape-shifters and can be either good or evil.
> 
> Naginata - is a traditional Japanese weapon.It is formed like a pole with a curved longer blade at the end of it. The prefix ko- indicates the version used by female warriors. It is smaller to compensate the lesser height and upper-body strength of women.
> 
> Pollen's powers and appearance are based on the ones used by her "guardian goddess" Bhramari (an incarnation of Durga) in her fight against the demon Arunasura.


End file.
